Jeffrey Donnelly

A former broker pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges that he defrauded his employer of more than $1 million in a scheme involving illegal trading at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Jeffrey Donnelly, 28, of Chicago, a former trader in Standard & Poor's 500 stock index futures contracts, pleaded guilty to two counts of commodities fraud, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Howard Pearl. U.S. District Judge James Alesia set April 7 for sentencing, Pearl said. Donnelly, a former employee of CRT Services Inc.

A federal grand jury indicted a former Chicago lawyer Tuesday on charges that he allegedly made $680,000 in illegal insider trading profits by using information gained through work at his law firm. The lawyer, Alfred Elliott, was the first person indicted on insider trading charges to be accused of violating federal racketeering statutes, prosecutors said. "In the future, we expect to use the racketeering laws as a powerful weapon in these cases," U.S. Atty.

The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday accused 10 men of taking part in illegal commodities trading schemes, including one in which wigs, makeup and phony credentials were used to gain access to the trading pits at one exchange. U.S. Attorney Anton Valukas said the four unrelated cases resulted from an investigation begun more than 18 months ago "to monitor possible commodities fraud in the marketplace and elsewhere."

Chuck V. Murphy was a model corrections officer at New York's notorious penitentiary on Riker's Island. Smart, muscular and clean-cut, Murphy worked there for four years but, as a closet alcoholic, he struggled to stop drinking during his time off. Recognizing his problem, Murphy quit the $33,000-a-year job and moved to Orange County, where he sought help for his addiction.